What's changed? '03-'05

[BHolm]

I have a couple '03s at work that have just been awesome trucks. I just replaced my personal Duramax with an '05 CTD. I know the power is up some. Is it officially 600 or 610 lb/ft now, I have seen both numbers?



Any potential bad news? I see there is a big cat convertor under my truck now though it looks big enough to handle the job without too much restriction.



Good news is, quieter than the Chev, gets my wifes approval, no need to buy a gasser. I am already getting MUCH better milage, and I have more power. How do you beat that?

 

[EBottema]

Few cosmetic changes such as the new rear badge. .



Fuel pump now in tank and a electromechanical sensor under gas pedel instead of throttle cable. Much more electronic engine controls.

Also a Cat converter for all trucks

 

[klenger]

The Cummins 600 is now 50 state legal, which allows CA and a few other states to now get the HO engine. 2003 started with the 47RE automatic, and the 48RE was introduced mid 2003. Very few changes from mid 2003 to mid 2004 when the 600 came out. Enjoy the new ride. I've gotten 20. 5 MPG over the last 3 tanks of fuel driving empty.

 

[jsimpson]

how do you like the dodge automatic trany compared to the chevy's allison?

 

[BHolm]

The allison transmission is the main reason I traded the truck off. Since it was our personal truck it didn't do much towing, just a few times with my 4000lb boat. At the 25k flush the fluid came out black and burnt. The chev comes with a transmission temp gauge and I swear I never saw it break 200 degrees. 2000 miles later I had GM pay for another flush, this time at the dealer. The fluid was still dark and burnt smelling. They gave me a TSB stating that dark fluid on the allison is normal and wont effect performance At 34k miles I decided to make a stink before it went out of warranty. Three days of fighting and run around with GM customer service finally got them to flush the transmission again, and change both the pan filter and external filter. They got it clean and were going to offer me an ext warranty on the trans. They were still insisting that there was nothing wrong and that the fluid wasn't burnt just dark. I decided I didn't need that kind of hassle on a $48k truck. My dually has over 60k miles on it, it tows 15k everyday, the SB quad at work has the same duties and has about 45k miles. Niether one has had a single issue with the trans or anything else. In addition, when GM upped the d-max to 590 lb/ft, when bolted to an alli the engine control computer limits torque to the old 520 level in first and fifth gears. What does that tell you? I really liked the grade braking feature, it is extremely effective and very useful since all of my driving is mtn driving. My new manual states that the 48re now has some similar feature. Haven't tried it yet though. I also MUCH prefer the shift program of the 48re. It picks up taller gears and locks the convertor sooner allowing the engine to work with torque. The alli downshifts and forces the engine revs up, I never liked that. While Dodge could do better by adding another gear or two, adding the grade braking so an exhaust brake will be a simple add (it is on an alli) I have been very pleased overall with the 48re.



I noticed my '05 doesn't automatically raise the rpms at cold idle like my '03's even though the manual says it should. It does say though that I can have the dealer enable a high idle control that uses the cruise control (just like my Mack truck ). I will be getting that done very soon.

 

[Udaloy]

Your truck won't high idle in cold weather? My '04. 5 does, and I didn't expect it to because of the 6-speed vs. the auto in my '02. Being in Colorado, I'm going to assume that you've had cold enough weather for it to operate.

 

[BHolm]

It has sat outside in mid 20 degree weather for two nights. It never did come up off of low idle. Doesn't really matter now, I stopped at the dealer today and had them enable the cruise idle control circuit. Pretty sweet, just push the cruise "on" button and the "set" button and 1000 rpm comes right up. Then by using accel and decel buttons you can set it anywhere you want. I guess electronics are good for something

 

[mberry]

My high idle has never come on and it has been in the low 20's here and not plugged in. What should I look for?

 

[Udaloy]

Bholm,



Do you have a TSB for that high idle feature using the cruise controls? That's the way to fly. Mine will just go to 1000 rpm, and I'd like to run it a little higher than that.